1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the field of electronic musical instruments, and more particularly to electric guitars.
2. Description of the Related Art
The 7 STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,223,737 and 5,175,387) has in recent years been the subject of a popular fad by Hard-Core Metal, Techno, Rap, Industrial, etc. musicians who favor extremely low and extremely distorted sounds.
To such effect these musicians have been tuning the-commercially available 7 STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR to the following notes: B, E, A, D, G, B, E (from the lowest to the highest) or closely related variants of the same tuning.
The 7 STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR was originally designed for the specific use of a high string added and virtuoso playing.
The new breed of musicians are not really interested in virtuoso playing and making full use of the well laid out range of the 7 STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR, but restrict themselves to rhythmic phrases on the lowest strings with an extreme amount of distortion.
The 7 STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR, not having been invented for that type of approach, has consequently several shortcomings, which are cause of extreme frustration with such players.
The biggest problem is the inevitable muddiness of the sound created by the closeness of harmonics of very low notes generated by an instrument (the ELECTRIC GUITAR) which is tuned in fourths, with little harmonic separation to begin with, emphasized by the intense gain generated in the amplification.
The bottom string, to be consistent with the other strings of the standard set that these musicians use, is generally pretty light and adds to the floppiness of feel and discomfort, which is in all cases intrinsic to any low string added to any ELECTRIC GUITAR with no dedicated design.
What these musicians really play are supportive rhythm parts which sonically sit in between the bass and the standard rhythm guitar, which is relative in range to the position of a CELLO in a classical orchestra.
The present inventor has come to the unorthodox conclusion that marrying the 7 STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR with the classical VIOLONCELLO, he can create a totally new instrument which perfectly resolves all the problems of a 7 STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR tuned with a low string added and played with maximum distortion. In fact, the resulting instrument goes well beyond the purpose for which it has been originally conceived and yields something unexpected both in versatility and performance.
The classical VIOLONCELLO, commonly known as CELLO, is somewhat limited as it only has four strings (i.e.: three less than the 7 STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR) tuned to the notes of low C, G, D, A, but has clarity and definition because of separation of the harmonic overtones, created by the "spread" tuning in fifths. Also, the Classical CELLO is a fully acoustic instrument and is played with a bow, as opposed to the GUITAR, which is played with a plectrum.
The Classical CELLO is obviously most unsuited to the musical demands and techniques of the new breed of musicians, but some of its best features can be manipulated in an unorthodox manner and incorporated in the 7 STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR.
The process is not really logical, but the results are perfect. The new tuning of the 7 STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR, as we said, is currently B, E, A, D, G, B, E or thereabout. If we think in terms of notes as opposed to musical instruments or engineering, that means that the current 7 STRING GUITAR has a range that only covers a semi-tone lower than the Classical CELLO and 7 semi-tones higher.
Nevertheless, by the addition of the next higher fifth to the tuning of the classical CELLO, i.e.: a high E we have the full range of the 7 STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR, with only a low semi-tone missing.
If this tuning is applied to the 7 STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR, the 7 STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR is now a 5 STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR tuned in fifths and with almost the exact range.
If the scale is increased from the standard scale of the 7 STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR of 25.5 inches to a maximum of 26.25 inches the tension of the strings is increased enough to remove a great deal of floppiness from the bottom strings but without causing playability problems to a guitarist, who, obviously has not go the finger spread of a bass player.
Now the scale being 3/4" longer it is possible to add 3 extra frets to the new musical instrument without any spacing problem, gaining 3 more semi-tones, in the upper region, i.e.: ending up with a whole tone more range than the 7 STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR, with only 7 STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR, with only 5 strings.
But if the new breed of player prefers low sounds, why not move the low C down to a low A, giving an even ore extreme low end?
The result is excellent as we now have a new instrument that has exactly the same highest note as a 7 STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR along with the newly described tuning. In fact, the 7 STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR has 24 frets and the highest string is an E, consequently the 24.sup.th fret will also be an E.
If the new instrument goes up in fifths from a very low A, it will be tuned to the notes of A, E, B, F#, C# and the 27.sup.th fret on the C# string will also be a high E.
This new instrument is clearly superior to the 7 STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR, when the added string is a lower note.
In fact, the longer scale gives way better tension and response to the otherwise very floppy low string. The tuning in fifths gives far more definition, as the harmonic separation clears any muddiness exacerbated by massive amplification gain and distortion.
The reduction of strings to only 5 allows the use of thicker strings (it is obviously much easier to play a smaller neck, width-wise, and fewer strings, therefore the player can afford to use some of the automatically gained strength to easily deal with the challenge of thicker strings) drastically improving the tone of the instrument (it is common knowledge that thicker strings sound better than thin ones, though are harder to play) and its punch.
Therefore, the preferred embodiment of the CELLOBLASTER is a 5 STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR-SIZED instrument tuned in fifths from a very low A, with a scale of 26.25 inches and 27 frets.
Obviously, some may like the alternative tuning of C, G, D, A, E and such tuning (or any in between) is still totally compatible to the instrument, the only difference being that the player will have to use a lighter gauge of strings, to compensate for the higher pitch.
Due to the length of the scale, a standard straight headstock is perfectly functional, and the use of staggered headmachines is desirable.
Whenever the manufacturing of the COMPOUND HEADSTOCK (as claimed in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,165) is not a problem, then the alternative scale of 25.75 inches can be used to the same effect, but with improved playability for players with small hands.
The COMPOUND HEADSTOCK will only be used for the lower string (very low A or C) and the other four strings will be wound around the posts of headmachines laying in line on a straight plane.
One magnetic pick-up the bridge position is sufficient on this instrument which specifically provides low end massive distortion, but as many pick-ups as desirable can be used.
Though a standard vintage Fender Stratocaster style bridge unit with 5 height adjustable saddles with a width of 0.440 inches is perfectly functional for this purpose and can easily be manufactured with existing tooling, the ideal bridge unit should have similar saddles but with a width of 0.485 inches to compensate for the thicker strings to be used in any case.
In this case, obviously the spacing of the pole pieces on the magnetic pick-ups fitted on the CELLOBLASTER will have to match the saddles and be 0.485 inches center to center.